Yes, preserving farmland is important, the elder Robinson said. But other uses may be appropriate in limited areas where farming isn't as profitable.

As water quality deteriorates in the estuary - with the possibility of future water supplies being diverted away from the Delta - the elder Robinson said Friday that he believes other land uses should be considered where it makes sense.

"If we don't have water here shortly, and there is no water to irrigate in the Delta, is (agriculture) still worth protecting that vehemently, or are there other avenues to go?" he asked. "It's like saying, 'You drive a '58 Chevy, you're stuck with driving a '58 Chevy for the rest of your life.' "

Robinson's 120-acre solar farm, which met its demise earlier this month, would have had to survive a gantlet of bureaucratic processes because of its location in the Delta.

The project won approval from the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors in January 2012, against the advice of county staff. The county's General Plan says projects in the Delta must be related to water, recreation or agriculture.

But the General Plan was only one hurdle. The property was also under Williamson Act contract, requiring that it remain in agriculture.

The Robinsons attempted to take advantage of a new state law allowing easements to build solar projects on ag land. After all, while preserving farmland is a priority in California, so is developing renewable energy sources.

But even as they pursued that goal, things were changing in the Delta.

Two more state agencies - the Delta Protection Commission and the Delta Stewardship Council - were raising concerns that the solar farm might require further review. In 2013 the council passed a new Delta Plan under which the solar project could theoretically have been appealed.

Ultimately, the same board that initially approved the solar farm rejected the Robinsons' request for more time. The vote was 4-1, with Supervisor Steve Bestolarides supporting the extension.

"It's hard to get anything done in San Joaquin County," Robinson said Friday, saying the project was "dead."

Whether it ever would have really lived is not clear. In letters to the county, the Delta Protection Commission pointed out that the site was designated as prime farmland and that hay and tomatoes had been produced there.

The commission said the project wasn't consistent with its own plan for the Delta, which recognizes the estuary as an agricultural region of great importance. Maintaining agriculture is a "cornerstone" of that plan, said Erik Vink, the commission's executive director.

"In our view, the proposal was not consistent" with the plan, Vink said this week.

"It's not uncommon for landowners to claim that their property has impaired value agriculturally and therefore should be a candidate to conversion for another use," Vink said. "But we didn't see the evidence for that being the case. The information we had indicated the property had been farmed and continued to be farmed."

Robinson confirmed that tomatoes were grown on one small portion of the land but added that most of the property was too salty for crops.

Local and state farm bureaus also opposed the solar farm, arguing that it was an "industrial" facility simply incompatible with farming.

Contact reporter Alex Breitler at (209) 546-8295 or abreitler@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/breitlerblog and on Twitter @alexbreitler.